It's Not Like I Love You
by Staying Groovy
Summary: A one-shot that ended up not being a one shot. Just a fluffy little fic about Onodera, Takano, and pudding. Lots of pudding.  Rated teen for language and innuendo
1. The Bait

19.10.2011  
>20.10.2011<br>21.10.2011

It's Not Like I Love You...

_"__It__'__s __not __like __I __love __you, __but __I __can__'__t __deny __you__'__re __attractive.__"_ Ritsu Onodera blushed. No, he couldn't be thinking like this about Takano. It's just not right! But still... the man glanced over at his colleague, who was currently yelling through the phone to the printers on the other end. Yes, he had slept with him once... or twice... or eight times-but that was no matter! He had decided not to let his old heart rule him once again. That's right. He'd moved on. But now was _not_ the time to be thinking about this! Right now it's time to-

"-get your damn manuscripts together!" Ritsu rose from his desk to shout at the men wallowing around him. Murmurs of consent roe around him, which only fueled his anger. He knew that the deadline was set exactly where it was supposed to be, so the authors should be ready... right? Or maybe Takano was right about the 94% of their work...

Just then, Kisa broke into the room. "Alright! I've got Akari-sensei's final work!"

Onodera sighed in relief. "Finally! Bring it here. The printers won't get off our asses unless they have something to work on."

Ritsu was so excited that he completely missed the death glare that Takano sent his way at the mention of "asses".

Pulling the pages out of the manila envelope, Kisa paused dead in his tracks. His voice shook. "Uhm, Onodera?"

The worry was catching. Concerned, Onodera replied, "...Yes?"

"Slight problem here..." He pulled out the chapter cover from the package. "She was supposed to make a 2-page spread..."

"FIND HER." And at that exact moment, the fax started to spew out papers at an alarming rate. Dashing over to the shuddering machine, Onodera grasped a stack of ink-covered pages and began to read. It seems that all of the authors finished their chapters and were ready to have them picked up-ha ha, nice joke. No, it was the usual last-day bombardment of apologies, excuses, and the old "the deadline was when, again?" from the authors.

This was going to be a long day…

And then they were done. Muri-sensei, Chiaki-sensei, Kane-sensei… all of the serial deadline offenders out of the way to be printed, stacked, and sent off in boxes to be delivered to eager young girls who were waiting eagerly to see which boy Sakura-chan was going to choose or whether time would cause Hi-san and Miya-chan to break up and whether Chii would really be forever alone.

Though Ritsu wasn't in love with anyone (he wasn't! He really wasn't!), he hoped he wouldn't share the same speculated fate as Chii. Maybe some nice girl would come along and something would happen and-ah, who was he kidding. That wasn't going to happen. Whenever his thoughts took a turn like this, he would immediately start thinking about-and then he smashed his head into the nearest wall, which happened to be the side of a convenience store that he has to pass on his way home.

"_This __is __all __wrong! __I __shouldn__'__t __be __thinking __like __a __stupid __teenager __anymore!__" _He sighed and leaned against the cool brick. _"__I __shouldn__'__t __be __thinking __these __kinds __of __things __when __I __haven__'__t __slept __in __what, __three __days?__I __haven__'__t __even __showered __in__… __God __knows __how __long.__"_

Stumbling off, he was muttering to himself. "Geez, I really smell right now. Guess no one will ever want to go out with me now…"

"Unless, of course, they smell as much as you do."

Ah, shit.

Stopping dead in his tracks, Ritsu whipped around and found himself face to face with that stupid idiot…

"…Takano."

Takano hoisted up his convenience store bag over his shoulder and spoke with all the authority that he could muster, which, surprisingly, was quite a lot. "In the flesh."

The slighter man started sputtering. "I, uh, forgot I had to do something… over… there." Pointing in a random direction, he continued. "Yeah, right over there. So I guess that I'll be on my way then…"

Takano smirked. "You mean over in the direction of my apartment? In that case, let's walk together."

"…_I really hate this man."_

After leading a fuming Onodera off in the direction they needed to go, Takano spoke once more. "But if it's not out of your way, why don't you stop by for a bit?" He shook the plastic Happy Mart bag. "I've got pudding."

Ritsu almost exploded with excitement. "P-p-pudding? You have pudding? For me?"

With a smirk that would rival the great Usami Akihiko's, Takano proclaimed, "You can have it… if you come to my apartment for a bit."

[A/N]

BAHAHAHA this was supposed to be a one-shot why is it not a one-shot.

The dates at the top are from when I wrote this fanfic. I use paper first so that I can write during school and everywhere and then type it.

Also it's my head-canon that Onodera has an extreme love for a "girlish" thing like pudding. XD

I have the second chapter written, I just need to type it. Don't worry, I will get around to it! I won't leave you all hanging! :D

Reviews are always appreciated, but flames will be used to make my pudding~


	2. The Hook

3.11.11

4.11.11

8.11.11

Chapter 2

"_It's not like I love you, but you've got my pudding, so I guess I'll go over to your place anyways."_

Ritsu felt kind of like a horse being bated by a carrot as he followed Takano back to his place, mind focused on what the hell he was going to say once they arrived.

He glanced up at the taller man. Neither of them really knew much about the other-they didn't talk about themselves much when they were going out, and they had changed a lot since then. Though they had expressed their distaste in how much they knew about the other, neither of them knew what to ask. _"No-stop pondering this!"_ Ritsu bitch-slapped himself internally. Just go over, have your pudding, and walk next door with as much dignity as a man could muster after practically squealing over a convenience store dessert.

Just be normal.

Normal.

Normal.

Normalnormalnormalnormalno-

"You're quiet."

"_GAH."_

"O-oh really? I just don't have anything to talk to you about because we aren't at work and you know we have all our work done and I'm really tired and you know how that gets and I have a song stuck in my head but I don't know what it is but it goes ba-da-da-da, dum, dum, yeaaa-"

"Onodera."

The aforementioned felt his heart skip a beat or seven. "Yes?" 

"You're babbling."

"…And if I am?"

Pushing his hand down on the brunette's hair, he requested, "Just ask something."

Pulling the hand off his head in an almost regretful motion, he thought for a minute. Ritsu wasn't able to ask anything that he really wanted to know, so he went with the first random question that popped into his head, which happened to be- "What's your favorite color?"

Takano paused for a moment, before replying confidently, "Orange. And yours?"

Shit, shit, shit. His favorite color was orange as well, but now he couldn't say that because it would sound too matchy and lovey-dovey and like they were a couple and-

"Green."

Good answer.

Finding this satisfactory, the taller man nodded. "So it's my turn now. Favorite song?"

Having not listened to much music besides the English music An-chan had sent to him (okay, fine, he liked that stuff too), he had to admit that his favorite song was ""River Shiver" by Pomplamoose."

They stopped walking. "You're shitting me."

Glaring up at his boss and blushing, Ritsu snapped "No, as much as I would like to be. Do you have a problem with them?"

Laughing at the others adorable reaction, Takano replied "I love that band! I was going to say the exact same song!"

"O-oh really?" Not believing him for a minute, he challenged, "Let's hear the lyrics."

Smirking, Takano began.

Like they were back in high school again, the two walked side by side discussing the hipster-like musical tastes that they both possessed, ranging to the mildly well-known artists such as the Hoosiers to the wildly eccentric and incredibly geeky tones of Zaphod and the Beeblebrox. **(A/N any other H2G2 fans out there? This is SO a band I want to form~) **

Once they were done laughing over "Ode to Eccentrica Gallumbits" they realized that they had been standing outside Takano's door talking for a good 10 minutes. The sun was almost down, setting behind the building they are facing.

Talking about nothing can really take a long time, apparently.

Whipping his keys out, Takano nearly bust the door off its hinges in his rush to get inside. He rushed the two of them through the impeccably clean apartment (how did he find the time to make it look that nice?) into a small room in the back.

"Takano-san! What are you-" He was cut off by the view out the window. Though it couldn't have been planned, the timing of their arrival was simply unheard of. He realized that the room they were in right now it one that he had turned into his bedroom in his almost-identical apartment, but Takano had turned it into a kind of dining room-sleek, black table with two matching chair situated in the middle of the room, a trashcan in a corner and a full wall window-that complemented the beautiful sunset outside perfectly. It was breathtaking. As Ritsu stood there, gaping at the view, the other man passes him, and with almost mechanical precision, placed the pudding cup and a silver spoon directly in front of one of the chairs and sat down in the other one. In no state of mind for intelligent conversation, Ritsu decided that it would be best to follow suit and eat the pudding with minimal words exchanged between them. As he took a bit of the sweet, gelatinous mass, he pondered how weird it was to be eating something so normal in here-it seemed for fitting for a finer meal of, like, pasta and wine or something, but who was he to pass up one of life's greatest pleasures?

They sat in silence as they watched the sun descend over the metropolitan skyline as the last remnants of pudding happiness were scraped from the cup and devoured. Popping the last spoonful into his mouth, he turned to the man sitting across from him. "So…" And then he was lost. The sun was reflecting off Takano and his chair in such a way that made him look… well, beautiful. He still had his glasses on from work and the light was dancing on the pitch-black frames, causing Ritsu to become trapped in its playful movements. Noticing the floundering man staring at him, Takano smiled. "Yes?"

"Uh…" Fumbling for words to say, the slighter man stumbled over a few vowel sounds before his boss took pity on him.

"Nice day, isn't it."

"Mm." The conformational hum was something that was rarely heard by anyone-he had to have something on his mind and be really distracted for that to escape him.

"Is there something on your mind?"

"…Why me?"

Takano paused. "How so?"

Whether from the lack of sleep of from the question he had asked, Ritsu began to tear up. "Why do you have to be in love with me?"

Laughing on the inside, Takano picked up the sniffling man and carried him out to the couch in the living room, tossing the pudding cup to the trash can in one swift movement. Distressed, Ritsu still clung to his shirt even when he was set down on the soft cushions. Somehow Takano had managed to keep the whole place impeccably clean, despite the odd hours he had to work. Through the sparse furniture and the well placed artwork, he had managed to make the space seem even larger than it was.

Takano took a seat next to the other man and placed a comforting arm around Ritsu's quivering shoulders. It was calm for a few minutes. Neither man wanted to talk-what would they say after that? They could only sit quietly.

It was Takano who ended up shattering the silence.

"I don't know why I love you," he muttered. "But if I had to say, I'd go on forever trying to rationalize it. Sometimes I don't even know why myself, but then I'll see you do something unbelievably you, like that expression you have when reading a book or going out to grab a manuscript last minute so that the author can get in the magazine or getting all jealous over my friends or even that blush you get when you look at me. I don't know why, I just love you for you. Just like when you brought me that umbrella. You were just being you." He felt Onodera freeze at his side as he lapsed back into silence. They sat there for a while longer before Takano rose.

"…I'll get you some tea."

Since his human pillow was gone, Ritsu slouched back against the couch. He had no idea that Takano l-l-lo—he couldn't think it. But somehow it was… comforting.

Before Takano could get back with the tea, Ritsu was already fast asleep.

[A/N]

OH YOU GUYS AND YOUR REVIEWS 3 3 3 I love you all.

This was such a long chapter… the next one will be shorter and up sooner. I have no clue how long this will be now…

You should all go check out the songs in this chapter and listen to them.

I also have dibs on Zaphod and the Beeblebrox. :3


	3. The Miscalculation

8.11.11

9.11.11

10.11.11

Chapter 3

"_It's not like I love you, but I'm really tired…"_

Waking up after you've slept for two days straight is always a momentous occasion. You're hungry. Extremely thirsty. Terrible case of bed-head. Fairly cranky but finally well rested. And it doesn't' help your sanity when you wake up in a certain room next to a certain man in a situation you've vowed never to get yourself into again.

Leaping out of bed is also a momentous occasion.

"W-W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?" he screeched. Takano rose from his slumber and glowered at the smaller man currently jumping around and yelping like a howler monkey.

"Oh, pipe down, moron. I didn't do anything to you-you just fell asleep over here and I decided to let you rest."

Onodera stopped his flailing. Sure, there wasn't the usual pain in his… backside that he'd usually experience after a night in that room , and he didn't feel sore anywhere, and there weren't the usual bruises and hickeys, and there wasn't any cu—"What the hell happened last night?"

Okay, that was a fair question, considering that what happened last night after he left works was a gigantic blur.

"…You don't remember."

Takano looked pissed. Ritsu gulped. He hadn't seemed this angry since… since… well, since he had gotten drunk at his apartment and woken up hung over, naked, and with a bunch of questions. His life wasn't supposed to sound like a Ke$ha song, damn it!

"Um… nope."

Takano whipped around and hurried to the kitchen, muttering something about "stupid", "idiot" and "frozen fish".

Weird.

Onodera sat in bed listening to the shuffling, clanking, and hissing sounds emanated from the room next door. For some reason he felt… kind of bad, actually. He hadn't meant to forget all of what happened—he blanks out on the last few hours after the cycle. It's normal! But still… hey, why was he putting so much though into this anyways? It makes it sound like he lo-lo-loves… no, no, NO! He didn't like Takano in that way! Or so he thought… no, there was no doubt. He wasn't in love!

However, he wouldn't mind if he was so much if it meant he got to eat like this every day! Seated in front of the food on the black table, he realized just how hungry he was. Inhaling the delicious aromas, he pushed his problems to the back of his mind and took a heap of fish into his mouth.

"ISSHHH SHO GOO!"

"Glad you like it." Takano seemed to have calmed down from before. His smile seemed a bit forced, but at least he wasn't in a rage. They ate in relative silence, the both of them wolfing down as much food as they could hold.

As Ritsu was scraping up the last bits of rice from his place, the man sitting across from him spoke once more.

"Do you want seconds?"

Gulping down the last mouthful, he gleefully replied, "Yes please! That was amazing!"

Takano's smile was more natural this time. "Glad you like it."

As he left the room, Ritsu noticed a small cup resting in an odd angle next to a trash can, as if someone had thrown it there without caring where it went.

He twitched.

Things like this really pissed him off.

He stormed over to the corner and picked up the container, but paused before he threw it out. Strange, this cup seemed really familiar. Had he seen it before? And it smelled sweet, like…

Like…

Oh, fuck.

He remembered.

[A/N] I warned you, short chapter!

Bahaha 2 chapters in one day? Don't be expecting this too often. I just took half my lunch period to rattle this out. Nice of me, no?

All this food talk has made me really hungry.

Lunchtime.


End file.
